Category Archives: Random Thoughts & Writing

Charlie Grace turned on the light next to her bed. She examined her skin then touched herself, worrying one touch would make it all happen again. She was whole. It had all been a dream. She looked at the clock. In half an hour her alarm would go off for her first day of high school. She groaned into her pillow wishing she could somehow roll over and reclaim her peaceful sleep the night had stolen from her.

After putting in major work on her unkempt face she rushed down to the kitchen smelling the sweet smell of maple syrup. Her mom made her favorite waffles. The berries were in season in her moms garden. Just as she hoped, her mother had woke up early to pick them. Dad was reading the paper but he put it down long enough to smile and tell her she looked well. He was always busy for work but he never forgot to give his favorite and only daughter his undivided attention once in a while.

After checking in with her he went back to his paper and her mother topped her off with whip cream and more fresh berries on the side. As Charlie poured the piping hot syrup on the waffles she remembered the strange dream where her body liquified and she was stuck, unable to move or find a way back to her shape. The dream left her with chills. Then she thought about school, leaving her anxious and excited.

Her mother dropped her off at the curb, she had enough time to meet up with her best friend Jasmine at the front of the school. They both greeted each other with big hugs and squeals. They had so much to tell each other. Jasmine stayed with her grandmother in Florida over the summer and went to Disney World. She told Charlie all about how she fell in love with a cute boy who lived in Colorado which was no big deal because they had video chatted every day since she had left and even before they both went to school this morning.

Charlie’s summer wasn’t as eventful. She went to camp with the same people she saw every year for science club. Everyone had looked the same, the boys hadn’t even hit puberty, or if they had she didn’t have much to look forward to in this career. Charlie knew from the age of six she wanted to become a scientist. It wasn’t until a year ago she realized she wanted to be a marine biologist and find better ways to communicate with the sea creatures. Maybe one day she could even find a way to save the ocean from further pollution. If it was up to her everyone would give up driving and anything to do with the use of oil.

“Charlie, what are you doing for your birthday?” Jasmine asked when they reached their lockers. Jasmine had already traded with some other kid so they could be next to each other for the semester.

“Just the same family dinner. You’re coming right?”

“I can’t. My parents are having some important client over and they want us to play house.” Jasmine’s parents were separated all summer.

“We should throw a real party this year!” Jasmine jumped up putting her hands together. “We could have a big blow out. Invite everyone here. How cool would we be if we had the first party of the year?”

Charlie pointed to a well-designed poster. Jasmine shrugged her shoulders. It sounded like a lot of work any way. Charlie didn’t like putting in so much effort because she didn’t like discussing her age.

“Hi Charlie.” A boy waved her way then rustled his hand through his hair when her only response was a confused, awkward smile.

“That’s Weston.” Jasmine poked her in the ribs. “Oh my, what happened to him over the summer?”

Weston lived next door to Jasmine. Their families were very close but Jasmine hadn’t done a very good job of staying in touch with any of her friends.

Jasmine was right, something had drastically changed in Weston. She looked down at herself. She hadn’t grown as much as the other girls over the summer; which hurt more since she was a year older than them all. She wondered when she would go through her changes.

Sitting in first period it felt so free being able to pick my seat even though Jasmine and I weren’t in the same class. She was so used to assigned seating. The teacher’s lecture on the rest of the year made Charlie tired. Even more than she realized because she hadn’t been sleeping well for weeks.

She looked down at her desk where she was writing a note for Jasmine. Tell her about how boring her teacher was and how he asked questions then answered them himself like he was having a conversation. She started to write about how cute Weston’s dimples were when he smiled. She had always noticed but it wasn’t until now she felt Jasmine would agree instead of laugh at her.

Mid-sentence her pencil started bending. Lifting her hand up it fell around the tips of her fingers. Puddled on her desk she tried poking at it and the gel-like substance moved around her finger then filled back up when she lifted her hand. Looking up she noticed everyone’s faces were drooping like they were about to drip off their faces. Paralyzed she froze. The desk began to liquify, the legs twirling against her legs bringing her down to the floor.

“Charlene Grace.” The teacher commanded; even though she corrected him during roll call telling him she goes by Charlie, she always did.

Shaking her head she helped herself off the floor to sit on her sturdy chair. The class erupted in laughter as she struggled to get up and open her eyes wider. Had she fallen asleep or imagined it all?

“A raised hand would be adequate.” The teacher responded over the loud noises and called everyone to order.

Something about night keeps me up while the day light I try to fight to stay awake. I’m not sure why but my body prefers to live in the dark. In reality there are no rituals that keep me awake but my determination to take advantage of every minute I have left. Just knowing that the day is going to end makes me frustrated because it means I have to wake up and start all over again. I feel as if I have to fit in every moment of fun before my life shuts down and I go through the motions again.

There are many things that I choose to stay occupied with….school, work for my job I don’t want to do in the morning when emails and other attention hogs try to inflate my time, catching up on that TV show that just can’t wait tomorrow, youtube videos…..WHY

For some reason I get foolish. I can choose to do any of these activities the next day but my body just says why wait. What if tomorrow sucks?

Times are changing and with technology these days you get more than you ever expected possible at a pricy fee. Walking into the electronic store with my life savings I was ready to splurge on some entertainment.

Taking a look at their large wall of tv display a salesman from headed my way.

“Hello there, my name is Dr. Who. What brings you in today?”

“Okay.” I stared at him surprised by such a name and decided if we were playing games I would to. “I’m Ms. Where.”

He smiled at me as if he was hiding a secret. “Well Ms. Where I have just the right product for a women of your means.”

Raising my eyebrows I wasn’t sure if I should be offended or go with his interesting sense of humor.

“We have three new products that just hit the shelf. This right here,” he put his hands up against a steel door that stood in the middle of the aisle “will lead you anywhere, hence it’s name, the Anywhere door.”

“Do I look like a sucker?”

He smiled. “Do me a favor and think of any place imaginable that is real and you will be taken there.”

Going along with his scheme I imagined going back to Rome. Placing my handle on the door, I rolled my eyes, then pushed it open.

There was nothing to see but the end of the aisle. “Now that I’ve tried how about you show me something worth my time.”

“First just entertain me and step through the door.”

Begrudgingly I stepped through and when my first step hit the pavement I was astonished. Here I was opening the door to the Pantheon. Tourist were filled in the room looking at the angelic statues and tombs. I just stared up through the shaft of light that came from the roof leading to what looked like Heaven. Turning my eyes back to the door that led me here I rushed back in worried that I was stuck and without a passport there was no going home.

When my feet crossed the threshold I was back on the linoleum floors. “How the–”

“If you think that is a wonder please follow me this way.”

I was dazed and confused but I followed him without caring what joke was pulled next. We stopped at a blue phone booth for what seemed like the Police?

“Isn’t this technology a bit antiquated?” I stated.

“Not if it has been reprogrammed.”

Stepping into the booth with him he moved around some things and all of a sudden the impossible once again happened. Lights and surroundings changed drastically until we came to a standstill and I knew nothing was the same.

“For your safety I suggest we stay inside.” He opened the doors for my viewing.

I nodded as I looked at the chaos of the jungle with trees larger than most buildings. The floor began to rumble and I backed against the wall as I was staring at a braunosaurus who was running from a T-rex.

“I think we better get back before my boss wonders where we went. Plus that T-Rex is looking our way now.”

He pressed some more strange buttons and I gripped my hands together as the beast charged toward us. Closing my eyes to watch my life pass I could see a bright light through my lids. Peering at my surroundings I saw we were back and followed him out of the booth.

“I have one more new product to show you.”

I wanted to laugh hysterically at the thought that there was anymore he could show me.

“Please place this helmet on.”

Taking the ridiculously large helmet I decided what more could he possibly show from time traveling to teleporting and decided it was something also worth exploring.

“What now?” I asked as I waited for something interesting to happen.

“Can you please walk over to that mirror and let me know what you think.”

“I don’t need to look, trust me, this is not my style.”

“I think by now you should know to trust my instincts.”

Trust…..what a sentiment to this sales pitch. When I got to the mirror I noticed a distinct problem with this demonstration. Where was I?

That was it. I knew what product I would be “buying”. I walked out of the store with my free invisibility helmet.

And that is the story about how I determined the right product that I could afford.

It was as normal as any day when the event that changed my life took place. After a long day of work attending to others needs I was ready to attend to my own. Parking my car in the garage I opened the door only to be surprised by the lack of greeting. My two dogs that normally knocked me out of my shoes, panting to go outside, weren’t there. Walking into the hallway I shrugged it off and put down my bag. Maybe they were just chilling on the bed.

My body went stiff and my breathing stifled when I heard the sound of someone shuffling through my cabinets in the kitchen. Last I checked, my dogs didn’t have opposable thumbs…. Relaxing when I realized that James may have awoken before his shift tonight I remembered that I wasn’t home alone.

Walking into the kitchen I was ready to greet him with a warm welcome, hoping he wasn’t in a bad mood, being up and all a bit too early for the grave yard shift. I was surprised by the swishing sound of a knife that went just past my ear landing in the door frame.

That wasn’t James. The last thought before something hard pressed against my skull.

Waking up tied to my living room chair my head felt hazy and I could feel something trickling down my temples. Finding it hard to breath beneath tape that sealed my lips I took as many breaths as I could until I mustered the strength to look around. Looking up I saw an older women smiling adoringly at her equally pale mate. Both eating a slice of dark red cake with no icing.

Looking over to my right I saw James, knocked out, slouched in the ropes that contained him. Attached to his arms was a tube leading to a bag of his own blood that was being drained. Staring down at my arm I found the same bag draining the life out of me.

“Darling it’s so nice of you after all these centuries to remember our anniversary.” Said the older women.

“Happy 800 blood sucking years my dear. It is so nice of our company to keep us fed with such luscious treats. The creations you make are much more scrumptious then enjoying ones lifeline on tap.”

“Your blood cake is to die for.” She smiled as she looked at me hungrily.

If you could learn a trade — say carpentry, electrical work, roofing, landscaping, plumbing, flooring, drywall — you name it — what skill(s) would you love to have in your back pocket?

If there was one trade that I feel would be the most valuable to my life for almost any circumstance that could arrive it would be auto mechanics.

Some of the best reasons would be:

No more paying for an oil change, other than the stuff you need to get it done.

Check engine light on again? No worries I’ll fix that. Now I don’t have to worry about some guy thinking he can swindling me. A lot of times you go in for one issue and somehow you have five more that you never knew about.

No more buying a car that cost beyond your means if you prefer a fixer upper.

More importantly, if Zombies and such finally come forth I will be able to fix my car in a time when mechanics are eaten due to the starvation aftermath.

So why don’t I start now?

Time. Learning something that intricate would take a toll of my life. It is currently easier to pay others than to pay for that education. Oh and the grease, not a big fan of seeing black streaks on my skin. I’m just hoping one day they will finally release the Matrix and let all of us upload as much information as our brains can take. Hopefully that doesn’t mean we already have stored as much as we can take.

Italy – I’ve already done a study abroad for 5 weeks in Italy and visited many cities and yet there is so much more that I want to see still.

Greece – What’s not to love about Greece. From ruins to varying city structures on mountains and oceans.

France – I would be disappointed if I didn’t take in the tourist sites.

Ireland – Oddly I just want to run through the hills and sing nonsense all day long until I gasp for air as I curl up in the tall grass and read.

England – Mainly I’m interested in Shakespeare. So I guess just the normal tourist sites as well.

I suppose I could get specific and pick out the exact places within these countries but I’ll save that for when I can afford a trip. No sense in getting my hopes up until I realize….wait I can’t afford this…not yet.

“Are you a night owl or are you the early bird? What’s your most productive time of day? When do you do your best work?” –The Daily Post

What an interesting title…. Because the night? Well whether the night is good or bad I can never be as sad as the sight of light.

Day light has never been as good to me as night. When I was a child it meant waking up to get to school. When I grew up it was school and work and now it is just plain old work. Even when I had to work the evening shifts the freedom came from the sign of night. Nor did homework dwindle amongst the light.

For me the early bird who catches the worm has only one thing against me: A lower energy bill.

My best writing comes out in the evening to four in the morning. If writing was a full-time job and I don’t have a future family to schedule around I would sleep in for most of the day and awaken against the fall of night.